Tuesday, 13 November 2012

Unexploded Cluster Bomblets Repurposed As DIY Rocket Warheads

Over the past month we've seen large numbers of cluster bombs being dropped by the Syrian Air Force across Syria, leaving unexploded bomblets across the country. These are extremely unsafe and leave a long term UXO threat that one group in Syria has taken a rather novel approach to removing. In this following video filmed in Hama from one of the groups that make up Al-Farouq Brigade we see something quite remarkable, cluster bomblets being repurposed as warheads for DIY rockets.

At the start of the video we see the bomblets being plucked from the ground, itself extremely dangerous, and the fuze being removed. We then see the rocket workshop with rows of these bomblets on the ground, all with the fuzes removed, and we're then shown a bomblet having it's tail fins removed, and replaced with a fitting that then allows it to be screwed into the rocket. A newly manufactured fuze is screwed into the bomlet/warhead, completing the rocket.

What this video shows isn't just simply the bomblets being used as warheads, but that there's an entire manufacturing process behind this, with new fuzes being made, the new fitting being designed and manufactured specifically for this task, and the rockets being designed around carrying the bomblets as a warhead. It really shows how sophisticated the manufacturing process for making these DIY weapons has become.